1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plasma display panel (PDP). More particularly, the present invention relates to a PDP that improves brightness, reduces manufacturing defects and can be easily manufactured.
2. Description of the Related Art
Plasma display panels (PDP) have recently replaced conventional cathode ray tube (CRT) as display devices. In a PDP, a discharge gas is sealed between two substrates, a plurality of discharge electrodes are provided between the two substrates, a discharge voltage is applied thereto, phosphor between the two substrates in a predetermined pattern is excited by ultraviolet (UV) light generated by the discharge gas in response to the discharge voltage, thereby displaying a desired image.
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional alternating current (AC) PDP 10 may include an upper panel 50 that displays images, and a lower panel 60 parallel with the upper panel 50. A plurality of pairs of sustain electrodes 12, each pair having an X-electrode 31 and a Y-electrode 32, may be disposed on a front substrate 11 of the upper panel 50. A plurality of address electrodes 22 may be disposed on a rear substrate 21 of the lower panel 60, the rear substrate 21 being opposite a surface of the front substrate 11 on which the pairs of sustain electrodes 12 are disposed, to cross the X-electrode 31 and the Y-electrode 32 of the front substrate 11. A first dielectric layer 15 and a second dielectric layer 25 may be formed on the front substrate 11 on which the pairs of sustain electrodes 12 are disposed, and the rear substrate 21 on which the address electrodes 22 are disposed, respectively. A protective layer 16, e.g., a MgO layer, may be on a rear surface of the first dielectric layer 15. Barrier ribs 30 that maintain a discharge separation, and prevent electrical and optical cross-talk between discharge cells, may be formed on a front surface of the second dielectric layer 25. Red, green, and blue phosphor layers 26 may be coated on both sides of each of the barrier ribs 30 and on a front surface of the first dielectric layer 25 on which the barrier ribs 30 are not formed.
Each of the X-electrode 31 and the Y-electrode 32 may include transparent electrodes 31a and 32a and bus electrodes 31b and 32b. A space formed by a pair of the X-electrode 31 and the Y-electrode 32, and the address electrodes 22 that cross the pair of the X-electrode 31 and the Y-electrode 32, may define a unit discharge cell 70 that forms one discharge portion. Transparent electrodes 31a and 32a may be formed of a transparent material, e.g., indium tin oxide (ITO), that is a conductor causing discharge and transmitting light emitted from the phosphor layers 26. However, such transparent conductors typically have a large resistance. Thus, when discharge sustain electrodes are formed using only transparent electrodes, a large voltage drop may occur in a lengthwise direction of the discharge sustain electrodes 12, increasing driving power and reducing response speed. To solve the problem, bus electrodes 31b and 32b, made of a metallic material and having small line widths, may be disposed on the transparent electrodes 31a and 32a. 
However, transparent electrodes 31a and 32a are expensive, and separate formation of the bus electrodes 31b and 32b and the transparent electrodes 31a and 32a, respectively, are required. Thus, cost and manufacturing time increases.
To solve the problem, methods of forming sustain electrodes by using only bus electrodes that are parallel to one another have been developed. However, when the sustain electrodes are formed by using only the bus electrodes, brightness is not high.